The BJP on Friday asked the Congress-led UPA Government to model the proposed Food Security Bill on a Chhattisgarh legislation, before it is passed by Parliament.
The Chhattisgarh Food Security Act was far more superior to the proposed legislation.... It covered 90 per cent of the population whereas the proposed central legislation will cover only 67 per cent,” the main Opposition felt, while responding to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s recent comment that the BJP was obstructing the passage of Food Security Bill in Parliament.
“While the proposed Congress Bill will give rice at `3 per kg, the Chhattisgarh Act gives rice at `1 per kg. While the Chhattisgarh Act also takes care of the nutritional part by providing pulses and iodised salt to the needy, the proposed Congress Bill only talks about cereals,” said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar. The BJP would move an amendment in Parliament for having the Chhattisgarh Act as a model, if the government went ahead with the Food Security Bill in its present form. Another amendment by the BJP would ask the UPA Government to respect the “element of federalism”, as states like Tamil Nadu would not like a central legislation to supersede the existing arrangement in their states.
Food Minister K V Thomas told Express that the Bill had been crafted after wide-ranging deliberations. ENS